The only time a venomous snake strikes is out of self-defense. You can tell a snake is ready to strike, not only from the tightly coiled S position but also by watching its tail. The snake will move its tail into a tighter position, maybe even prop it up, for leverage. Then it slowly inches closer and closer to the prey.
The storm started brewing inside Johnny Monday afternoon in PE. The twerp threw the ball at him. What a jerk! There he was minding his own business and that asshole made it his point to stir things up. The human body has seven trillion nerves and some people manage to get on every... single... one of them.
He let this pass, as best he could. Ava's hugs and tenderness helped soothe his worry away and practice allowed him to take his frustration out. Sensei started teaching them new kicks, which helped too. It's great because chicks dig kicks!
Tuesday started like any other day. Sunshine, blue skies, no clouds, normal California morning. Today he's taking Ava to school. He's picking her up in his convertible. Since she's never ridden on his bike before, he wants to start her out slow. Build up to it. Maybe not. Maybe he should just go in for the kill and have her ride it. It'll be a great adventure when she finally does ride the bike with him.
He's in such a good mood, he even let Sid's argumentative snide comments go unchecked. So far this chapter of his life feels really great. It's amazing what a relationship with the right girl can do. It's like his mom, who apparently moonlights as his therapist on the side, said a long time ago. "You deserve a slow love, uncomplicated. Sure, stable, consistent. My Baby, you deserve that kind of love."
At the time her words made him confused. He had no idea what she meant. Like he told Ava, going slow is for losers. But now... now he gets it. He understands slow and wants it. No, craves it. Slow isn't for losers, it's for winners. Except in racing, then slow is totally for losers.
When he pulled into her driveway, he parked and went to the door. Her brother answered it. They both narrowed their eyes at each other. "Hey Barf Face, it's your lover boy!" the idiot yelled. He ran off into some other part of the house.
With an aggregated frown, Johnny stood there shaking his head. One day the kid is going to mouth off and catch him at the wrong time. Like his sister's an actual Barf Face. She's anything but. She's hotter than Ali, and he thought Ali was gorgeous. But she's more than a pretty face. It's Ava's kind spirit that really wow's him. That's what attracted him to her in ninth grade. She hasn't lost it over the years either. She spreads love and sunshine wherever she goes.
He waited patiently for her to come down the stairs. And he's glad he did because she looks smokin' in her white overalls. She has them rolled up past her ankles, which are shown off by the heeled sandals on her feet. Underneath the sleeveless pastel purple tee accentuates her arms. She's pretty, pretty hot.
As she neared him, with a bright smile on her face, his heart picked up speed. Throwing her arms around his neck, she greeted him. "Hi, Hot Shot." He embraced her back. "Thanks for helping me with my math homework last night."
With a low murmur, he said "Anytime Buttercup." He likes calling her that name too. One of her favorite movies is Princess Bride. Sometimes he'll even say "As you wish" for good measure.
"Have you eaten Johnny?" she asked. When she saw him shake his head no, she pulled him by the hand into the kitchen. There both of them sat and ate some fruit and yogurt, and washed it down with coffee (her) and orange juice (him). Then they cleaned up their mess and headed out the door.
As they drove they held hands and smiled. Old love and new love combined between them for a fresh kind of love. Words aren't needed between two hearts that understand each other.
Once the pair arrived at school, he carried her grey ESPRIT school bag for her. They walked hand-in-hand across the yard to his Cobras. Students gave them stunned looks along the way. One, because they're back together. Two, because Johnny's actually calmer these days. Not so tightly wound.
When the new couple joined his friends, her friends followed. "Hey Snakes," Joy acknowledged.
Dutch held his head up, from observing the new decals on Bobby's bike. "Oh look! It's my pride and Joy."
Turning to her girlfriends she stated, "I swear this is deja poo." All the guys wore confused expressions. So she explained. Â "You know? That feeling you've heard this crap before."
Tommy burst out laughing. "She told you, Man!" Once he caught his friend's eyes, he gulped.
Dutch was not happy with them both. He gave them scathing looks. Stating loudly, "I try to see the best in people. But some of you make it hard." Dutch then returned to check out Bobby's decals.
The group stood around talking until the bell rang. Their conversation started with Charley's question to Jimmy. "How was practice on Saturday?" That opened a can of worms. The guys began speaking about the new kicks Sensei is teaching them. They even showed some of them off.
Clapping, the girls smiled at their showmanship. Then Rachel wondered, "Is anyone going to the party tomorrow night at the beach?" She smiled sweetly at Bobby, who smiled just as sweetly back.
This got them talking about tomorrow night. Everyone is going. There's supposed to be a big bonfire, music, booze, night swimming. It all sounds like so much fun. Ava is instantly out of the night swimming. She's seen Jaws one too many times. No good can come from swimming in the ocean at night.
When the bell finally rang, they all dispersed for class. Johnny parted ways with his girlfriend. They're both headed in opposite directions this morning. She to Geometry, and he to Shop. He watched her walk off with a huge smile on his face.
Shop class is one of his favorite classes. This year, the seniors get to soup up cars. It's going to be awesome. More power! Anything with more power is perfect. In class, he put on his gloves and headed to his station beside Jimmy and Bobby.
They all waited for Mr. McGill to start the class. As soon as he greeted them, they got to work installing a new exhaust system on the car they're rebuilding. The thrill of the build was ignited in all of the students, especially Johnny, Bobby, and Jimmy.
After Shop, Johnny counted down the hours until lunch. That's when he'd see Ava again. It seems like anytime you wait for something to happen, it takes forever. This is how the morning passed. Every second felt like an hour. Every hour felt like a day.
But then lunch arrived. He headed to the cafeteria with Dutch, to wait for his girl and the guys. Not buying lunch today, since she packed extra leftover pizza for him, he stood around talking. There he was waiting for his girl, and the rest of their group when something happened.
Laughing at Dutch's comment, he mentioned "Yeah Man. I hear you. I feel the same way. Kicks dig chicks. So we need to keep working on them."
Bobby joined the two and clapped them both on the back. The three of them started talking about possibly hanging out after school. All of a sudden he felt something warm hit his back. Whirling around, he saw the twerp standing there looking stupid. With a clenched jaw and flared nostrils, he yelled "What is your problem asshole?" The whole cafeteria grew quiet.
He saw the idiot had spilled his mac-n-cheese on his shirt. First, the spilled drink. Then the ball to the back. Now, this. It's just another stupid decision, in a long line of stupid decisions. "If you have something to say, then say it to my face."
Daniel stood there continuing to look like the idiot he is. He held up his hands. "I tripped Man. I tripped."
Glaring at the twerp, Johnny stated "Likely story." He inched closer to Daniel. "You keep pushing me and pushing me. Soon you're going to be sorry." Naturally, he wanted to defend himself, so he stood up to his full height, fists clenched by his side. Before he could do anything, Mr. Kinsey came and intervened, again.
Ava, who had just entered the lunchroom, came over to take him away. The others followed. He took his shirt off. In an angry huff, he asked "Is there any cheese stains on my undershirt?"
She placed a comforting hand on his arm. "No John. Nothing's on the undershirt." She pulled him in for a hug. It managed to soothe the venom inside him. For now.
The prey then becomes the main focus of the snake. It's watching and following its every move. Sometimes the snake becomes excited or stressed in the process. If a person ever sees these signs it's time to slowly back away from the snake. Only a true idiot would continue to get near it or a person with a death wish.
Wednesday evening, the guys met at Tommy's and the girls at Ava's. Since they all live in the general area, Tommy and Ava's houses always seem to be the main meeting spot. The girls sat in her spacious room, chatting about the day and the party.
"Admit it. You think Tommy's hot," Charley told Kara. She pointed her manicured finger at her.
Blushing bright red, and biting her nails, Kara remarked "I do not." She always bites her nails when she lies.
Rachel saw through her friend. "You are so lying. You're biting your nails. That's your dead giveaway." She returned to reading Tiger Beat.
In denial, Kara exclaimed, "Oh like you're not into Bobby." She saw her friend turn her head. "First, the two of you spent practically all night talking at Brent's concert. Then you just happen to always sit next to each other at lunch. And you're wearing your hot swimsuit tonight."
Before her friends could debate anymore, Ava got off the bed and went to her closet. It's times like this she wants to pull out Johnny's "Quiet" routine. Since she's not swimming she doesn't have to worry about what she'll look like in her swimsuit. Instead, she pondered over what shorts to wear. She stood there staring at them.
Joy, her only sane friend at the moment, came to help her. "I think you should wear the leopard print shortalls." She grabbed the pair off the shelf and handed them to her friend. Then she pulled back hanger after hanger and presented Ava with a green polka dot crop top.
Unsure of this combination, Ava scrunched up her nose. "I don't know about this. Dots and leopard print? Plus, it shows my tummy."
Patting her friend on the back, Joy decided "It's cute and hot. Johnny will love it."
So she went for it and threw caution to the wind. Leopard print and polka dots, why not? As soon as Joy left, she closed the closet door and changed. After slipping her feet into a pair of black sandals, she exited.
The girls went down and grabbed a snack before they met the guys outside. Her idiot brother graced them with his unpleasant presence. "Hey reject. A letter came for you." He handed her an envelope. Studying the address, she realized it's from Pepperdine. While everyone wants to go to Stanford or UCLA, she wants to go to Pepperdine. They have a great golfing and elementary education program. She wants to do both.
Setting the letter aside, to read another time, she finished off her banana and water. Charley made them all aware of the time. "It's almost seven." After cleaning up their trash, they headed out to meet the guys. They saw them standing in Tommy's driveway.
Ava grew concerned when she didn't see Johnny's car. Instead, she saw his bike. His really fast bike, the one without a seatbelt. He waved at her. She grimaced but sped over to him. He kissed her cheek. "Hi, Buttercup." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and she melted a little.
"Are you ready," he asked her. Noticing her nervous expression, he declared "I promise it'll be OK. I won't drive fast." She gave him a look. "Not too fast." With bright eyes and an arrogant smile, he stroked her arm.
She pulled him down by the shirt, so they were face-to-face. "If I die, I will come back and haunt you forever." He laughed and handed her a helmet.
"Wear that and hold on tight," he explained. She obeyed and got on the bike. When it started, she didn't just hold on tight she held on for dear life. She had her boyfriend in a death grip.
They led the way to the party. Kara and Tommy followed on his bike, with Rachel and Bobby riding together after that. Dutch rode with Jimmy in his BMW and Charley rode with Joy in her Mustang.
As they drove Johnny relished the feel of her grip on his person. He loves her closeness since he's a closet cuddler. They rode with the wind hitting them on the skin. It is wonderful. Well, he thinks it's wonderful but every now and then she could feel a bug hit her legs. Disgusting. A reminder to herself to wear pants the next time he wants to bike ride. When they made it to the beach, Johnny drove carefully so as to not kick sand on his girl.
The party was in full swing when they parked. He helped her take the helmet off and secured it to the bike. Seeing her fix her hair in his small side mirror made him chuckle. "You look fine. I promise. Besides, you're only impressing me, right? I like what I see." He took her hand in his and kissed it.
She nodded, and they met up with their friends. They all went down and grabbed some beer and pizza. "I'm growing tired of pizza. A woman cannot live by pizza alone." It seems like she's had pizza every day this week so far. Gag.
"So, tomorrow night we'll go out to dinner. Anywhere you want. My treat," Johnny offered.
Bumping him with her shoulder, she accepted. "I'll take you up on that. Let's go to Bennigan's. I love their burgers and fries."
The music was loud and they could barely hear themselves talk. Looking around Ava noticed all of her friends either dancing, talking, or eating. "Look. Kara's dancing with Tommy." She pointed at the pair.
Johnny brushed it off. "Meh. It was bound to happen sooner or later." He wants to talk with her alone, so he took her hand and led them away from the growing crowd. They found a quiet spot in the sand ways down.
Sitting they both began to eat and talk. She started their conversation. "So, have you thought about where you want to go to college?"
The college talk. It made him calm up inside. It always does every time it's mentioned. His stress mounts. He can feel the anxiety return in his chest. "Yeah, I've thought about it. But I didn't do so well on my SATs. Sid had said some things that day and I let it get to me. It distracted me from the test." Â He ran his hand through his blonde hair.
Placing her hand on his, she spoke. "Hey. Whatever he says isn't true. You're a great guy. You have a big heart and a bright mind. You can always take them again in November. I'll help you study even." Scooting close to him, she put her arm around him. He did the same with her.
Looking at her he said "Yeah?" She said "Yeah" back.
With a quiet voice, he told her "It's amazing to find someone who wants to hear about all the things going on inside my head. You get me Ava Green."
She turned her head, and he turned his. Their eyes connected and like moths attracted to a flame, they were drawn to each other. They both matched each other stare for stare and shy smile for shy smile. Moving in slowly, they felt the pull of longing and desire meet.
Just as their mouths were inches apart, a ball landed on Johnny's head. She saw the irritation rise inside him. Voices could be heard coming closer, from all directions. It seems an impromptu soccer game is about to start.
Eyes ablaze, fire burning in his chest, Johnny stood up. He saw Daniel. "That's it! And don't you dare say you tripped." His temper is begging him to hit the guy. "There's no Mr. Kinsey around to protect you this time Twerp." His eyes followed Daniel's every move.
Then he felt Ava's hand latch onto his. She uncurled his fingers and held his hand. Moving his head to look at her, he saw her shake her own. Turning back to the idiot, he voiced a warning. "Be glad my girlfriend is here. If she wasn't you'd be dead. Dead." He saw his annoying rival turn and walk off, soccer ball in hand.
But just like people, every snake is different. There are indicators telling, and showing, the snake is not happy. Since the snake isn't running away, because snakes never run they always fight, it's probably going to bite. Therefore, caution is needed especially if a person finds themself near one.
A snake will bite. It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when.